I'm Still Unconvinced on These Amber Alerts...I haven't yet nailed down an exact, nationwide cost for this program, but I think it's highly unlikely that the Amber Alert system would survive any sort of rational cost/benefit analysis. This is obviously one of those times where it's easy for people to say "If Amber Alert saves JUST ONE child, then it will all be worth it". Of course, statements like that are almost always false, and the speakers of such statements should never be allowed near any kind of relevant decision making process.
posted by Nick 11:44 AM
New York to Have "Gay" High School...The only comment I have on this is that I can't wait for Harvey Milk to be a good high school, and then some straight students will try to get in, and they will be turned away because of their sexual orientation. Do liberals ever stop to take a step back and actually try to see their fantasy forest world for all its magical trees?
It is now absolutely normal in many circles for young black men and women (and, for that matter, little black boys and girls) to refer to one another as niggaz and bitches and ho's. Doing well in school is frequently disdained as a white thing. Doing time in prison is widely accepted as a black thing, and no cause for shame.
The part that never ceases to shock me is the part about school. I'm sure most of you can remember being hounded and harassed by your parents about homework, tests, not talking in class, etc. But in the black "community", accomplishment is harshly rebuked- many times by the parents or grandparents of the student. THIS IS A CULTURAL PROBLEM. No amount of government money thrown at the situation will ever make it better (in fact, it has made it worse). Until blacks on the whole embrace education and assimilation, they will continue to waste away in their seething cauldron of violence and fanciful antisocial histrionics.
posted by Nick 11:11 AM
Monday, July 07, 2003
US Military Team in Liberia...It's hard to know exactly what to think about our plans to send troops there. From a purely humanitarian standpoint, I would saw that it is a worthy cause. Many citizens of Liberia are actually begging for US intervention (which is strange, because why would anybody want a ruthless, imperialistic menace like America to come into their country?).
From a purely political/US self-interest perspective, I don't see it as a good decision. Unlike Iraq, there's just nothing there for us. Us going to Iraq was like hitting the jackpot: we got rid of a murderous dictator who ran his operation on a massive scale, we liberated millions of people, we got a foothold of operations in the Middle East, we scared the piss out of every other Arab country (plus Iran), we reasserted our military and economic dominance, and we issued a wholesale redefining of the World Order.
Contrast all of that with Liberia. These West African countries are so wretched, that they make the retrograde Middle East actually seem as if it is teeming with economic and cultural potential. I feel bad for the Liberians, and I'm glad they realize that the US is the only force that can save them. I'm just not sure it's right for us to do.
Of course, France and the UN are demanding that the US get on board. Their position seems to basically be that if a country has some self-interests to forward in these situations, then they shouldn't go in. How else to explain the extreme opposition to the Iraq War? Now, with no compelling interests, it is somehow incumbent upon the US to put their troops in harm's way.
posted by Nick 12:51 PM
Wednesday, July 02, 2003
"Diverse" Student Sighted on Michigan Campus by WASPy Co-Ed
Special to The Ranting Rationalist
University of Michigan sophomore Nelly Highbottom had her summer semester unexpectedly enriched when she spotted a black person across the quad on Monday. "I originally assumed that it was just a visitor to campus or even a worker from the physical plant", Highbottom told reporters, "but when I asked around, I found out this black person was, in fact, a student just like me. I was shocked. I know I don't even have to tell you how much this black-person sighting has meant to my overall educational experience."
Incidents like the one experienced by Ms. Highbottom underscore the continued need for "diverse" students on our college campuses. All too frequently, a white student will come to campus with only his "white experience" in tow. Often, this can lead to a very narrow college experience. As a remedy to this obvious problem, the Supreme Court recently ruled that sprinkling American campuses with "diverse" students represents a compelling government interest. Liberal activists point out that, particularly in the fields of science and engineering, a "black viewpoint" is vital. "How can a white student feel as though his Thermodynamics class is complete unless he has the opportunity to view it from a 'diverse' perspective?", asks Joe Jumus of leftwing think-tank Actions Divorced From Consequences. "Until we are all able to calculate complicated equations from the position of a human being who contains greater-than-average skin pigmentation, then how can we even call science 'science'?".
When asked for their opinion on being used as curiosities on campus for the enrichment of white students, several black students spoke very highly of the plan. "I think it's great", said high-pigment, diverse student Darius White. "There's nothing I like more than being employed as a patronizing means to an offensive end. I came to Michigan precisely in order to advance the cause of relieving the festering guilt of white academia. In many ways, my own educational enrichment is not even a priority of mine."
Ms. Highbottom, however, has no plans to get to know the black student she spotted. "They tend to congregate in the black dorm and hang out a lot at the Black and Latin Student Union. I figure they have about all the diversity they can handle."
White Dude Elected SGA President of Black College...This story is a few months old, but I was reminded of it by the recent push by the government to humiliate black students by using them as oddities on campus and causing other students to think poorly of them. Read some of the comments which follow the article. They give a lot of insight into just how interested in "diversity" some black students are.
Here's ANOTHER ARTICLE which contains a (surprise) quote from Jesse Jackson on the topic:
"There are some cities that have a majority White population with a Black mayor," said the Rev. Jesse Jackson during a visit to Baton Rouge. "Let this be a lesson, voting matters. When we don't vote, we have no voice."
Now, I can't be sure exactly what Revvrhunnnd Jackson meant by this, but it sure doesn't strike me as a vote of confidence. If you think you can translate his remark, please do so in the comments.
posted by Nick 3:48 PM
Black Students to Be Used as Campus Curiosities for Privileged White Students...is what any fair headline dealing with college affirmative action should say. I mean, it's true, isn't it? Valuable "diversity" must be provided for all those spoiled whities in order to enrich their education. If I was black (and I'm no longer saying I'm Not), that's certainly how I would view affirmative action. I would hate the idea of being used as pawn in some liberal guilt-relief scheme.
posted by Nick 12:23 PM
""All those people who were ambivalent about American power now think it's great so long as it is being used for their purposes...For some, especially the European countries, it's fine for the United States to be the world's policeman so long as we only patrol in places where we have no strategic interest," he said. "It is as if our interventions are only legitimate so long as they do nothing to advance American foreign policy goals or increase our own security."
I think that's the exact right analysis. I'd like to know the explicit reason why the French or the UN didn't seem to care about the welfare of the Iraqi people. Is it just because their torture went on in private, away from all the TV cameras? Certainly it isn't because they actually thought the Iraqis were doing just fine under Hussein, is it? I'm thinking maybe it had something to do with the ol' Texas Tea. Oh, wait. Nevermind. It's the selfish US who is motivated by oil interests.
posted by Nick 12:13 PM
Tuesday, July 01, 2003
The Thing I Hate Most About the Media's Portrayal... of states' budget deficits is the term "deep cuts". I hate this term because it is usually followed by how non-liberal lawmakers are threatening to "kick the crutches out from little orphan Johnny's broken leg", or how they are "pushing old ladies in wheelchairs into oncoming traffic". Yet when one wonders how theses states got into their current predicament, barely a word is spoken about the spending binges of years past. If you want to uses the term "deep cuts", then that's fine. But in two years, when the economy has gained steam and state coffers are beginning to fill back up, at least be honest with the reader. Use terms like "massive","monumental" or "back breaking" to describe the new spending proposals winding through the state capitols.
posted by Nick 12:53 PM
